Nest of Liars
by Miggyrow
Summary: Set a few months after the movie. John and Jane have come to terms with some of their miscommunication problems and began to rediscover each other slowly. When trouble rise in paradise and they have to face new nemesis...
1. Chapter 1

Nest of Liars

**Disclaimer:** None of _Mr and Mrs Smith_ characters belongs to me. I'm trying to be as original as possible, but if you find similarities with another story, feel free to tell me. But no flame please! So the original characters belong to me, don't use any of them without my consent. I know. I'm being rude. But these things need to be said, don't they?

**Rating:** ( T ) so I will be on the safe side.

**Summary: **A few months after the movie, John and Jane have come to terms with some of their miscommunication problems and they began to rediscover each other slowly. When trouble rise in paradise and they have to face new nemesis, they will learn that it is almost impossible to know everything about each other.

**Author's note:** I'm trying something new here. I like this movie in an excellent comedy-action-flicks-that-did-not-take-itself-too-seriously register, so my fic will be on the same tone. Be somewhat tolerant and bear in mind that English is not my maternal language so I apologize for all my possible mistakes. Though any help would be gladly accepted! Don't hesitate to review to tell me how he finally went! I don't mind constructive critics. Okay, I'm taking a deep breath. Here we go!

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Old friends

Part 1

-1-

"Baby, you should hurry or we will be late!" Jane Smith said in the micro that linked her to her husband. She flipped her _Elle Decoration_ magazine open and turned absentmindedly the first pages. She needed new ideas for the living-room. She knew how domestic she looks like this. And if someone had told her six years ago that she would live in the suburbia of New York in a white house with a white picket fence, she would have laughed at him! And later she would have killed him! That was just so unlike her! But after all those years spending in the skin of Miss Martha Stewart some habits was forced to grow on her. She heard a volley of bullet and smiled at the noise, a slender finger tapping the frozen paper agitatedly. She glanced at the computer next to her and just had time to see John firing around him with an AK 47. He ducked to avoid another wave of bullets and grimaced as one grazed his cheek lightly. She suddenly shifted her position. Her breathing became shallow and she pursued her lips. However, when he talked in the com, every tense muscle of her body relaxed. God she was irremediably lost! She loved that man!

"Next time, you will go and I will stay in the car." He said breathless.

"Like you would let me!"

"Well, you think you know me so well, Mrs Smith?"

"John, you are so proud, it wouldn't do that you don't finally get to play GI Joe! Remember what the therapist explains about your desire to repel all those bad childhood memories about your mother!" A toothy grin spread on her full lips as she waited for his comeback.

"Sweet-heart… Now is absolutely... (Punch) Not… (Punch) The time… (Kick for a change) to talk about my mother! (Another punch that this time elicited a cry of pain on his opponent)"

"Speaking of who, we never really got to talk about her, you know! I wonder how she is these days! It must be raining in the Wisconsin."

"Jane!" He warned as his heavy footsteps resonated in the receiver.

"All right, we will leave it for another day."

She impatiently tapped her finger on the steering wheel.

"I should go without you!" She teased again. "It will be the second time this month that we are late at one of our friend's party! What excuses will we give them this time?"

She thought she heard him growled but because of the rattle around him, she wasn't too sure. She glanced again at the screen and turned the keys in the contact.

"Baby, you would never guess what Suzy Coleman asked me last time?" She said, receiving no answer but a loud racket on the roof of the hummer. She set the SUV in motion and drove swiftly in direction of the superhighway, wheels screeching on the asphalt. Thankfully they weren't followed. The passenger's door opened suddenly and John slide in the vehicle.

"Eleven minutes 35 seconds." She recount and he glared at her in return. True, sometimes John Smith was just tempted to strangle his wife. He massaged his sore shoulders, his face momentarily contorted with pain.

"What did she ask?"

"Hum?"

"Suzy?"

"Oh she wanted to know the name of our therapist. She suspects his methods are pretty controversial since he suggests us to blow our differences and our house at the same occasion. But she agreed that he did miracles on us! She seems to think we have a spicy sexual life. "

"Now, now, I wonder what could have possibly made her think that."

John grinned, taking out a bottle of water from the bag at his feet. He moaned again, and Jane took the time to study him. His hair has grown during these few months. He gave him a dishevelled and sexy look. He looked much younger too.

"I will stitch it for you after you take your bath." She said as her hand left the wheel to stroke his shoulder lightly. "My poor GI Joe!" She said her lips pursued in sympathy. He watched her from the corner of his eyes, mirth gleaming in his blue irises.

"I think I will need more than a few stitches."

"Tell me exactly what do you need, stranger and I shall give it to you." She proposed her voice husky, because she knew where it will lead them.

He shrugged innocently.

"A kiss to make it feel better?" She suggested.

"It will take more than a kiss to make me feel better. I think maybe your mother could be the one ill this time."

"We should probably remember to never kill her in our lies. Her subsequent diseases came in handy, sometimes."

Her gaze left the road purposefully and he took this opportunity to kiss her. She laughed as her foot pressed the accelerator.

"Let's go home, sweetheart!"

-2-

Afterwards, when he did have time to ponder the fact, Sayid Beltawa couldn't tell precisely what had awakened him. He was in a building heavily guarded, with the latest of alarm systems and defensive sophisticated one and a fair number of experienced bodyguards. But for unknown reason, that night, some instinct had him waking and rolling off the side of the bed just as a knife embedded itself in the centre of the mattress. As he hit the floor, he kicked his legs out to free himself of the heavy cover. He picked up the satin sheets and sent it flying in the direction of the assassin. It didn't unbalance his opponent who sliced his way out with no difficulty and jumped on the floor nimbly. Feeling him gaining field on him, Sayid side kicked his attacker, hoping to knock him down. Unfortunately, the guy was faster than him, jumping back on his hands and onto the bed again. His eyes tried to make out the threat in the darkness, but all he could see was a black shape with no details.

He dashed for the doors but the asshole charged him again and they went crashing loudly against the far wall. Sayid growled and leapt up at the dark figure, noticing for the first time his attacker's dark eyes. He had already seen those eyes before or so he thought they looked oddly familiar.

"Jane?" He stuttered his voice barely above a whisper but she heard him nonetheless and fumbled to get on her feet. He did the same, and ducked in time to avoid her fist. "Jane, what's up with you?" He asked loudly now.

She didn't answer, and only grunted with pain as her fist drove directly though the alabaster behind his head. She retreated back and muttered a curse before her left hand searched for a knife in her belt. That is when his leg shot up high, catching her well beneath her chin and snapping her head back. There was so much power in the kick that it forced her into a back flip. Looking back to spot her landing, she realized wide eye that she would pass through the glassed window before her body finished its full rotation. She squeezed her legs together and crashed through the new windowpane feet first. She let herself fall from the 28th floor before he had time to react and reached for her. When he could catch a glance through the broken window, she had disappeared out of sight. He ran to the door and opened it to reveal the lighted hallway littered with his bodyguards corpses. He closed the door again, pulled some clothes on, retrieved his emergency backpack, took out his shining magnum semi-auto, dashed through the hallway where he climbed down the stairs, than thinking better of it, and took the elevator to the basement.

He walked through the parking lot, glancing down, scanning his surroundings as if he was searching for something. After he made twice the tour of the parking, he found what he was searching for, wedged between a SUV Mercedes and an old Continental.

"Hey, you over there! Don't move!" Someone yelled behind him. "It's Liman, I may have found him!" He heard the man say in his talkie. "Mister? I think you should follow me upstairs." He said as he continued to walk toward Sayid.

Sayid sighed; it was just not his night. He turned and fired twice on the guy, feeling sorry as the man fell backwards. He walked to the fallen man and straddled his chest.

"Sorry, my friend! "

He muttered as he grabbed him by his armour-plate jacket and knocked his head hard on the cemented ground. He picked up his gun, pulled out the cartridge and threw the gun away in the background. He easily forced open the door of the old Mustang and sat behind the wheel. He needed to make low profile down for awhile. Then he would find Jane and asked her what the hell was going wrong with her? Was it how she treated old friend? She accepted a contract on his head even though they swore each other loyalty. That ungrateful bitch! He would just… He would have time to think of way to make her pay on the road. He was gone long before the CIA agents arrived in the basement.

-3-

She crawled behind a building, and slide slackly against a wall. A deep moan escaped her throat as she pulled out the piece of glass embed in her stomach, and pressed her palm on the slight gash. She had failed! She wanted to scream out of frustration but she wouldn't attract attention on her. He had promised it would be easy. And as a matter of routine, she didn't pay much attention to the original plan. She was very spontaneous when she was on a hunt. It never occurred her that the target was any different from a previous kill. Still, the man had fought her well for a "simple civilian". She had failed miserably to bring him down. It was the first time she needed to revise her strategy with a client. This perspective alone sufficed to put her in the worst disposition. Her head connected with the wall four times and she bit on her lips. _Stupid, stupid and so stupid! _She rose with a grunt of pain and undressed from her dark engineer clothes, revealing her black and red silk dress. She adjusted the Mao collar and straightened the J-P Gaultier expensive material. She messed up her mission, she was going to be late to her date, and she was stained with scarlet blood. She looked in the plastic bag placed on her box. She pulled out a leather coat. She smirked. There was always a good reason to invest in leather. She closed the coat with a grimace and turned around in the dark alley. She would never risk missing the man of her dream just because of a little gash. She put her sunglasses and walked in the animated street like she owned the place. Women looked at her crossly and men winked in her direction. She saw on her left a group of CIA's finest and smiled to them.

"Madam", someone called behind her. She froze and turned. One of the agents, Agent Krauser if she should believe his badge, stood behind her. He looked no more than twenty-five and his cheeks blushed furiously like a teenage boy caught in the middle of the act by his parents.

"I'm sorry… I just… I… I… I' m agent Douglas Krauser… I'm working for the government… and… we're on a case here…" She nodded with a smile and he continued to look at her in awe.

"Well , agent Krauser. I'm glad meeting you but… I need to go. My fiancé is waiting for me."

"Yes, sure, Madam..."

"Miss Doe…"

"Well, Miss Doe have you ever seen this man?" He said and she barely looked at her target's photography before answering no, with a coquettish smile. The agent didn't see through her lies and opened the door of the limousine that just parked behind her.

"Thank you madam, have a good night." He greeted her before closing the door for her.

"You're late!" The driver said when they reached the first set of traffic lights. "What happened out there?"

"None of your business, rookie! Drive!" She replied angrily.

Benjamin Diaz looked in the rear-view mirror and sighed. At least, she was in a good mood tonight!

-----TBC-----

_Okay guys, I'm tempted to say this sucked! Majorly sucked ! So I'm waited impatiently for your comments! Please review!_


	2. Old Friend: part 2

Nest of Liars

**Disclaimer:** None of _Mr and Mrs Smith_ characters belongs to me. You know the deal.

**Rating:** ( T ) so I will be on the safe side.

**Summary: **A few months after the movie, John and Jane have come to terms with some of their miscommunication problems and they began to rediscover each other slowly. When trouble rise in paradise and they have to face new nemesis, they will learn that it is almost impossible to know everything about each other.

**Author's note:** Oh guys! You're so great! I'd never get so much review for one chapter… all the more for an English fic! I really wanted to thank you and only hope I will not disappoint you with this chapter! I should admit though that I didn't understand some of you. And because I'm a perfectionist freak, I felt compelled to ask you to help me clarify some of the things. For instance, Tiya was it grammatically confusing or was it the plot that got too complicated? And May what should I improved according to you! Really don't hesitate to explain to me where I didn't get it right? I don't know what to think of this chapter. I could probably do better but at the same time… I just don't know! So I'm waiting for your feedbacks.

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Old Friends

Part 2

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-1-

Jane parked a new SUV in the driveway of her shiny new white house. She stared through the windscreen absent-mindedly, recalling for the first time how it used to be without John. Without John she didn't have a house, she was going from place to place without ties. Her only link to this world was Jasmine, her best friend. It was simple she was just Jane Doe, an orphan with no roots and only one skill: To kill.

Jane longed to say that she did remember her parents. That they were good people… That it wasn't their fault if she turned out to be the way she was. That it wasn't their doing if she chose to kill people for a living and stay remorseless while doing so. But truth be told, when they died she wasn't old enough to cherish the memory of them and she chose to forget any painful one long ago.

She looked at the house again. She did sort of achieved good things in her life. Like marrying John and buying this house. Maybe… Just maybe they would have been proud of her.

She lied to John… or at least she didn't tell him all the truth. She wasn't honest when she explained why she hired actors to play her parents. There was time where she really wanted to pretend that this people were her parents. That someone would look at her and say. 'Yes' that's my girl! She is fantastic!' or 'God, she looked like her mother at the same age!' When she hired Carrie and Mark, two reformed secret agents, when she typed up their script, when she listened to them as they recited their lines she could pretend that Jane Doe was a normal girl. And for the first time since she was married, probably for the first time ever, she considered having children running through the front door. A boy and a girl who would look like their father… She imagined John dashing after them, carried them in his strong arms and tickled them until they begged him to stop. She imagined herself behind them, with a plate of home-made brownies, because if she had children she would try her best to cook! Hey, True mommy knew how to make brownies! She would be smiling and laughing with them! She would take thousands photos of her babies to put in her crafty-album and when they grew older she would sat with them to comment each little picture. She sighed behind the wheels, staring at the door as if a child would suddenly pop out of it. But nothing came out, she wasn't a mother. She would never be. She couldn't give anything to a child right at this moment. Their life wasn't suitable for children. She only hopes John would support her decision. They still have to approach the topic. She admitted that in six years of marriage they had never even used once the word "child" in one of their conversation. Not that they have so many of them before! They just got started and they had so many things to learn from each other.

She smiled and climbed out of the car. She went to retrieve her shopping bags in the trunk and she walked to the door, her arms full.

"Hey Jane?" She heard behind her.

"Hey Suzy?" Jane replied with a smile, while she fumbled for the keys in her bag.

Suzy Coleman walked toward her with Gypsy, her Labrador. Suzy pursued her lips in a compassionate manner.

"How are your mother? " She asked so low that Jane actually had to bend over to hear what she said.

"My mother?"

"Yes, I was sorry to hear what happened to her." The blonde smiled contritely.

"Yeah really?" Jane repeated, tightening her grip around her bags. She averted her eyes and bit on her lower lips like she wanted to cry.

"Oh I'm sorry! I have no tact whatsoever! But John called Martin and you know Martin? He told me the entire story! I just wanted you to know that… I know what you've been through. And you've been through so much lately! The house and your car… Not to mention your job…" Seeing the confusion in Jane's eyes she added quickly. "John… He told us that you lost your job and you are currently working with him. It's those kinds of hard transitions that are taking so much energy out of you! Some people just don't have luck! Not that you're this kind of people, I know life has not been particularly tender with you these days. But it will be alright! It's just you know how life is! I'm sure she will soon be fine!" She said as she put a hand on Jane's shoulder for comfort.

"Who?" Jane asked while her eyes were staring at Gypsy while he was pissing on her new range of Gardenia. Damned that dog!

"Your mother?"

"Sure thing, she is going to be okay! As good as new! I just see her. She is fine and she was going back home, in three days."

" Her chimio went that well ! It's… It's fantastic! John told us she was probably going to live with you now that your father… you know and…"

"Oh that! We just take a medical assistant for her…"

When she saw Suzy frowned in confusion, she continued.

"She appreciates her independence. She doesn't want to be a burden for us."

"Good. She was making a depression too. How is she dealing with that?

"Oh fine ! She is the strong type! Whatever comes on her way, she will survive! She is just like this! Crying one day and kicking the next!

"Her own husband… cheating on her after all these years! I know he is your father but he had no excuses. She was ill for god' sake!"

Jane opened her mouth and tried to find something to say that would "satisfy" the other woman. John was really going to pay for this. It seems he really wanted get her back for what she did last night. It was not her fault if she was in horny mood and her poor hubby couldn't keep up. John was so creative in lies department. It was one of their favourite games to put the other one ill at ease with crazy situations. When the web of lies became so tangled she didn't know what was what anymore, she thanked inwardly all divine instances that put John on her path. He was really made for her. They have so much fun together! She nodded, hiding her laugh. She leaned on the door and was startled when she felt it give way behind her. She stiffened, recalling precisely how she had locked it in the morning. She tried to appear casual but Suzy wasn't dupe.

"Oh you left the door open!" Suzy said, walking briskly toward her. She caught one of the paper bags in Jane's hands and pushed the door unceremoniously. "I will help you with this inside."

Jane growled inwardly, praying that it was all her imagination playing tricks on her… That it was probably John coming back earlier from his night-out with Eddy... That it was everything but a threat to her new tapestry. She had just chinned all the furniture at a French second hand-dealer! It couldn't be any other way! If something happened to that house again, life would be definitely unfair with her like Suzy had suggested.

She was compelled out of her thoughts as Suzy entered her house. She followed shortly her nosy neighbour inside. Her left hand quietly clasped on the hidden Sig Sauer against her left thigh. She heard Suzy gasped and saw the woman froze in the hall.

A man was climbing down her stairs, with nothing more than her white towel tied around his waist. It wasn't much of a towel with that! It would have been okay if the man in question had been John. But in fact, he looked nothing like her husband. His skin was the rich colour of bronze; a large tattoo was carved on his abdomen and his right arm. He was lean-muscled, lanky and graceful. His muscles were apparent on the ridges of his back and the extent of his stomach. His waist was trim and Jane was tempted to think that it could be the best his body had to offer. She shrugged the idea out of her mind. John was going to truly kill her!

"Hello, darling ? Miss me ?" He said with a smile gracing his features. She opened her mouth and closed it back. She had nothing to say to that. Really nothing to say… She did miss him… For awhile! She barely shook her head. Oh, John was going to kill her!

"I see you brought a friend." She barely glanced at Suzy before she looked back at the intruder. Fate has a way to mock her, she thought. Here was standing in front of her the last person she expected to see today! The last person she ever expected to see again! "Alex", alias Sayid Beltawa was listed in the files of all the top agencies in the world. Number 4 of the wanted list of Interpol, number 19 in the list of CIA, he was known as a terrorist , a mercenary , a spy, a thief, and a cocky bastard in more than 57 countries in the whole wide world. He was one of the most dangerous people that presently walked this earth. He also inadvertently happened to be her ex-boyfriend.

"Jane," Suzy said suddenly, coming out of her dazed state. She was blushing a bright pink colour like a teenage little girl. She wondered if Martin would be offended if she took him a subscription to the local fitness club. "I think I will go." When Jane didn't answer her, she repeated. "I should probably leave you two alone, you probably… want to..." She trailed off, particularly at a loss to describe the relation between these two. It was certainly not a simple friend. "…Do whatever you had planned to do."

"I am Alexander Fihidjan. Call me Alex." The man finally said, his right hand momentarily left his waist and extended in her direction amiably. They shook hands.

"Suz… Suzanne Coleman. Su-zy for my friends. You must be a friend of Jane?"

"Oh Suzy, can I call you Suzy?"

When she nodded enthusiastically, he continued charmingly.

" Friends doesn't even began to cover what we represent for each other. Jane and I we're like…"

It seems to wake Jane.

"Brother and sister! I met Alex when I was a foreign student in England! He is family for me…" She explained hastily, with a certain edge in her voice, emphasizing on the word family. "Yes, that's what he means! With all those things going on in my life, I forgot… that my friend from long ago was supposed to visit us today! Silly me!"

Suzy gave her a compassionate pat on the shoulder and nodded.

"Right… Suzy, thanks for helping me. Really! I'm just going to take this." She said picking back her shopping bag. She settled everything on the desk against the stairs. "I will help him settle. You know the deal with flights. London… jet-lags… emotional luggage… as he probably left a girlfriend behind." She muttered gritting her teeth. "So I will just help him accommodate in our glorious country."

Suzy nodded. "I…see. Alex… Welcome in United States! Have a good stay here! Jane, send my best wishes to your mother and… bye!" She dashed through the door and Jane watched her scurried to her home, Gypsy in tow.

"That's it, Suzy! I will call you back!" She closed the door. Without glancing in his direction, she picked up her two bags and strode to the kitchen. Sayid seemed reluctant to leave her out of sight. She just tried to kill him for Allah's sake! But God already knew that he like to live dangerously! There was no point in living if it was not for a good thrill from now and then. He went back upstairs to change in decent clothes. Five minutes later, he sat on the stool while she organized the food in the fridge.

"I thought your mother was dead?" He asked, while playing with Jane's favourite butcher knife. She tore the weapon out of his hand. And he chuckled slightly as she glared at him with irritation.

"I…It's a long story." She said coldly.

"Got all the time in the world, love." He said crossing his arms on his chest. There was a gleam in his eyes that Jane couldn't quite identify. Her head tilted suddenly on one side as she faced him.

"Long story short… None of your business, asshole!"

-2-

When she entered the lobby, a heavy silence ensued. And the people present tried their best to avoid being in her path. She looked like an odd mix of a Gorgon, a dragon and a mermaid, stunningly beautiful, stunningly powerful, and stunningly captivating. She walked with confidence weapon in hand like the hot heroin of a Japanese Manga. She put down the Tommy gun she used on the practice's field on the nearest desk and pulled off her duster. She was dressed absolutely not by the code. Her black sweater tightly fitted her curve, underlining the cut of the long sleeves. The low cleavage in her back, and the red Scottish kilt draped high on her thighs showed off a natural tan skin. Her hips swayed as her leather bootsstomped along the immaculate ground. Her black hair streaked with red gave her an eccentric look. Her features however were anything but what her clothes suggested. Charcoal eyebrows highlighted the coldest and most uncooperative dark eyes. Her full lips were quirked in a contemptuous smirk. Her figure repelled people as much as intrigued them.

"Hello, boss!" Jasmine greeted her as she followed her through the ethereal hallways, like Archangel Michael probably followed God. The boss barely acknowledged her presence with a glance.

"Some' told me you have a rough night?" She tried with sympathy but she only received a glare for her trouble. God, she missed Jane!

Miss Doe leaned over the laser eye for identification and waited for the doors to unlock the conference room. A fair number of agents were already there and Jasmine easily located among them Benjamin Diaz who was busy trying to get Gillian's personal number. The boy integrated their ranks shortly after Jane's departure and Jasmine couldn't help wondering what particular skills had obtained him the job! The only thing that pleased Jasmine about the situation was the fact that their new boss gave him shit everyday the sun was shining. She seemed to dislike the boy as much as her. He could easily be the lamest agent she had ever seen but she indulged him some more because there were a fair number of newcomer too that contested his position in her heart. People she didn't particularly appreciated like her new boss and her bulldog's friend Lucifer. Miss Doe sat at her usual place at the head of the table. And Jasmine settled on her left, waiting patientlyfor everyone to find their own seat before beginning the briefing.

"Okay, we can say with certainty that our target had managed to escape the vigilance of CIA security, so far he hadn't left the city. We could track him for a short while downtown. But I'm sorry to admit that we have currently no news from him and at this present moment, our operators are unable to locate him."

An uncomfortable silence seized the group again as their breath caught in their lungs. Benjamin's previously self-assured smile faded as he knew what was about to come.

"I refuse your report." Miss Doe said and everyone's nose was bent over their files. Everyone that is but Jasmine, the girl smirked defiantly in her boss's way. "This is unacceptable."

"I know. I really feel like it too. But what can we possibly do? He is a snake in a net. He is quite an adept at disappearing in nature. He is a chameleon. This guy had done it for the last twenty years. He is an expert at survival."

"What can you do? You're asking me what you can do! Possibly doing your job for example!" She snarled, rising from her chair.

"Like you did yours?"

"What did you say?" She asked facing Jasmine again. Her eyes dangerously narrowed on the small woman's throat like she was about to slash it open. Jasmine gritted her teeth.

"I said I am a technician of operation. Not a wizard. If you don't do your parts…"

"Are you implying that it was my fault?" She half whispered walking slowly in Jasmine's direction. Jasmine stood her ground bracing for what was about to come.

"I did not say such a thing, but I do imply that if it was Jane…"

"Don't you dare…"

"Jane always followed the plan!" Jasmine finished her trail of thoughts.

"Don't you talk about her! Don't you fucking compare that bitch to me!" She roared and the room resonated with the gasp of her audience.

"I think what she means…" Benjamin tried from his seat tentatively.

"Shut the hell up, Diaz!" Miss Doe snapped back. "That's what she means!"

"But…"

"Don't but me boy! You really don't want to mess with me." Miss Doe leaned over and looked directly in Benjamin's eyes. Ill at ease, he averted his gaze, intently focusing on the files before him.

"I think we had a right to discuss…" Jasmine began again.

"Darling, you had only one right: To shut your fucking mouth! That is your right… Explain to them Lucy."

Lucy, alias Lucifer for her friends and I daresay for the others too, was Miss Doe's true second-in-command. They arrived in the same time in the agency. They shared the same assignments and they had always worked hand-in-hand. Jasmine thought that it was because they shared so much in common that they get along so well. They were both high-top bitch queen. As far as Jasmine was concerned, Lucy Bree O'reilly was a part Japanese part Irish smug idiot. She was tall and slender in frame. She had a twisted taste for leather clothes, always looking like the china leather doll. She wore her long hair bleached blond and had several tattoos on her little body. And you would never believe it! Her favourite weapon was a razor-sharp Katana that she used as efficiently as a samurai. A rumour said that she barely had celebrated a twenty years old last year.

"Okay, people! I think we need a short debriefing here! Miss Doe is your new boss." She said like she was talking to some retarded children. "She has been given the responsibility of New-York's division of your agency. And I think it would be wise of you…and I dare add very beneficial for you to follow her lead and take advantage of her great international experiences…"

"Jane Smith worked with us for more than ten years, we…" Jasmine insisted.

"Tssk…Tssk… Sit down." Lucy ordered with a smile plastered on her pretty face. She pushed the exotic beauty in one of the desk chair and wheeled her to the end of the table far from her original seat.

"Listen, Jasmine, Mrs Doe and I are perfectly conscious of how dedicated you are to your friend Mrs smith but we felt obligated to ask more of you. If you could transfer all that devotion to your work…" She chatted amiably before a voice went suddenly from warm to icy cold. "IT COULD MAKE OUR LIFE SO MUCH EASIER! Miss Doe wants everybody to feel like home here. We're like a big family! But do remember… That anyone is disposable."

She smiled kind-heartedly and went back to her seat at the other end of the table.

"Now if anyone of you have anything else to say…" Miss Doe invited coldly.

They all shook their head in negation.

"Good… Now that this is settled, we can probably do some works before supper." She added while she plopped herself in her own chair. "We are a business company and time is money wasted. We need to get Mr Sayid Beltawa a location and a grave. So now I want you to record every entries of the man's life. I want to know everything about him from his first tooth to his first girlfriend. I want to know his favourite food, favourite reading, favourite movies, and his favourite brand of condom. Just about anything. And I want it before the end of this day, did I make myself clear?

Her audience nodded in approval.

"The meeting is adjourned."

The crowd dispersed curtly after, not wasting more time than necessary in Medusa's presence. Jasmine lingered a while behind as she was left gathering her files on the table.

"Huh, I forgot something, Jasmine, from now on Lucy will take the management aspect of your affectation to help you with all… those new charges….Because I really think now will be probably a good time as any to introduce our new recruit Benjamin to the basics of the logistician engineer's position. "

Jasmine's green eyes blazed with fury, but she said nothing and barely nodded in her "boss" direction.

Lucy grinned at her retreating form and licked her lips in a predatory way.

"That girl is hot; I could probably do myself a snack like that. Such a pretty thing!"

She noticed her friend suddenly pale complexion and she hopped on the table and gently stroke Missy's Hair.

"Hey what now? She doesn't know shit, ok? Don't listen to that stupid bint! You did great baby…You know these Americans…"

"Lucy, what I'm going to do if we don't find him?" She said leaning heavily. "If I failed, if I truly messed up everything, what are we going to do?"

"I never saw you fail in anything you had begun! This boy is just a walking corpse. I admit a pretty and sexy walking corpse. But he is as good as dead for me!"

"This was not…It was not the same… He had that… strong grip on me… It was…bizarre!"

"You were surprised…It can happened sometimes. Nothing wrong with that!"

"But if I could not execute the deal… What if he was too strong for me…"

"He is just a man! There's always a way!" Lucy asserted with conviction.

"He called me…her name…" She spoke softly, her voice uncertain. "He called me Jane!"

Lucy sighed and growled in exasperation.

"That son of a whore! The Persian prince just needs a bullet lodged in his cute little head if you ask for my opinion."

"I don't look like her, huh?" Missy insisted her brow furrowed in anxiety.

"Fortunately for you, you look nothing like that old little snotty slut! And she got nothing on you, I promise!" Lucy snorted and leaned discreetly over her friend to whisper. "Did you mention this little detail to my hot little princess!"

She rolled her eyes to the heaven.

"No one should ever know." Missy said, pursuing her full lips.

"You're definitely nothing like her, baby. Trust me on this."

Her genuine smile stretched Miss Doe's lips for the first time.

-3-

The bar was full and Eddy had a hard time making his way from the bar to the pool area. He stepped away at the last second to allow a cute Latina and a hot blond friend to go to the second floor. He whistled appreciatively at their retreating form and was about to resume his step when an Asian guy step on his foot.

"Hey!"

"Sorry man" The guy said distractedly while he sweet-talked a blue-eyed angel into giving him her phone number.

"Who do you think you are, dumbass?" Eddy snapped back angrily. "I could just wipe that Jacky Chan's smug grin of your face…"

The boy turned toward him, staring blankly for a second than getting back into his conversation with his angel.

"Yes… Yes, Fear me! You don't want to come in my way, Hong-Kong guy!" Eddy said disdainfully. When Bruce Lee glared once more in his direction, he growled assuming a pretence of fighting stance. Jackie Chan protectively wrapped an arm around the shoulder of his future girlfriend, leading her away from that drunkard.

"Yes…That's right! Leave before I… do something **you** will regret later!"

"You're crazy, mate! Go find a cure! "Jackie Chan threwmockingly over his shoulder.

Rising his Cuba Libre high in the air, Eddie nodded with fervour.

"Yes, I'm crazy! And you don't wish to know how much!" He bellowed crescendo before he calmed down. "Ass… In the blink of an eye, I could…" He finished before taking a sip of the sweet nectar.

"Argh! Yes, damn yes… I'm bad!" He said winking at three girls in front of him. They served him a pitiful look as they returned to their conversation.

"Bitches!" Eddy said as he stumbled to the pool table where John was teaching an African-American goddess to shoot a dart in the bull's eyes. Life was really unfair for some guys! Here was his best friend John, alias the best hitman of the world, officially married with a sex bomb bitch, and currently flirting with Hallie Berry's double! On the side of this pretty picture, there was him, Eddie, divorced twice,once to acheating slut,another time to a lesbian, living with his mommy, second rank killer and that was to say a lot, and currently not getting any! Life was a bitch! Women were bitches! Life could be a woman in disguise!

He sat John's drink behind him and hopped on the pool table. Another girl, a brunet with green eyes, that he hadn'tnoticed before stood up from a stool and handed her beer back to her friend. They exchanged places while John selflessly took upon him to show the green eyed hottie how to throw the dart. She put it right on the aim and the two girls clapped hands in delight. They caught John by his waist and planted two noisy kisses on his cheeks. He walked toward Eddie a girl under each arm.

"Eddie, this is Talika", he explained pointing out the Halle Berry wannabe. "And her friend Stella…They are models!" John explained with a smile. "Stella is Spanish and Talika is Nigerian, you remember our little trip to Lagos ten years ago?"

Eddie nodded with a smile. If he did remember! It was pure mayhem that day! They were on a contract for a gun dealer. It had turned out that their target had the entire Nigerian army at his services. It was incredible!

"Yes, really perfect! Beautiful country...with beautiful women." He said and Talika smiled at him, flattered.

"Thanks Eddie!"

"So John told us you're working with him, you're his assistant, right?" The other girl said before taking a sip of her beer.

Eddie raised an eyebrow at John. He could be the lamest liar of the world. It was a wonder he managed to deceive the snobbish hen he married all those years!

"I prefer the term "partner", luv?"

"We're a team!" John said with a smile and Talika cooed in his shoulder. Eddy was growing more and more frustrated as he felt currently out of the loop.

"So as a team player, you should know how to use that horrible tool?" Stella said with a giggle, a dart in hand.

"Yes, I know just the way to use those kind of tool, baby! I could give you some private lessons." Eddie said with no subtlety at all. Talika and Stella exchanged worried glance. John shook his head in denial. He just didn't know this guy!

"We just remembered we had something to do with some of our friends." Stella said.

"If they are as hot as you, sweet thing! We will be happy to tag along!"

Talika frowned and turned to John. And John turned to catch a glimpse of video clips on the TV screen on the wall.

"John, I was really happy to meet you! Say hi to your wife for me! She is a lucky girl! Then, you have my number! You could say hello from time to time." She said and John nodded with an uncomfortable smile.

Stella patted his shoulder and sighed.

"There's so few of us that got that lucky!" She said and walked away with her friend, waving at John.

"Bye!" Eddie said lamely when they were out of sight. "Bitches!"

John chuckled and slide into the nearest booth.

"What was that about Eddie? You know it will do you good to…you know with women?" John said.

Eddie snorted.

"Hey, forgot who you're talking to! Married twice, don't need advice! At the sole exception of our mother, women are bitches in all species!"

John shook his head in despair and sipped his beer.

"How is our personal nightmare?"

"Jane is ok! She sent you her best kisses, by the way."

Eddie made her show in wiping his cheeks in disgust.

"Blah Bleeuhh! Blahhh!" He feigned to puke. "Glad to know she is still alive!"

"You know I will pay to know why you too never get along."

"Well, john you're my friend…She is your wife and...that's it! she's your wife! We're never meant to get along. That is against the rules."

John smirked, staring suspiciously at the man who stood just behind Eddie. When the man turned in his direction, they locked eyes. The man shifted from one foot to another and suddenly stomped off toward the bar.

"So how went your last assignment with your new partner?" Eddie said bitterly.

"I don't know, I still think it's weird." John said, sipping his beer thoughtfully, already chasing all traces of that mysterious man from his thoughts. Instead, his mind focused on Jane. It was weird to have her with him like this. It was weird that they suddenly spent that much time with each other when they had spend the past years avoiding too much intimacy. Another word that came into their vocabulary only recently: intimacy.

"It's because she is the crazy kind. How can you stay with her and ignored the call of these to-die-for-hot-bitches? "He asked incredulous.

"Because I love that!" John said, munching on some chips. "She is fucking incredible these days. Sweet and tender the minute and sexy and dangerous the next. She makes my blood boiled every time…"

"Woahh woah wow! Visual visual here! No more of that will you? You want to blind me!"

John snorted and grasped a handful of chips.

"What's important you know, is that there're no more secrets between us. We're learning from each other. I'd have to say, we're a great team together."

-4-

"We were a great team together Jane? Until you got rid of me that is…" Sayid said helping her by rinsing the peaches and pears in the sink and put them in the expensive piece of French silver plate Jane called her basket fruit. She had always loved peaches. He remembered how she used to go in missions with always one at the ready in case she wanted to indulge in a snack. She used to have that wonderful perfume too. Something very fruity! Jane Smith was a creature of habit, he thought. He frowned slightly something else having just crossed his mind.

"We were never together, Sayid." She repeated dully, like she was trying to convince herself. She placed two bottle of orange juice in the fridge. John adores that brand. It has the pulp left in it.

"You don't wear it anymore, do you?" He asked out of nowhere. When, she frowned in confusion, he sighed. He was trying to convince himself she was innocent. There was absolutely no point in it.

"What?"

"Nothing… Forget it."

He placed back the plate of fruit on the counter and sat back on the stool. She pulled out a bowl of fresh salad and began to prepare the first course. She glared suspiciously in his direction.

"You know what? I never got to tell you! You're a pathetic thief, a coward murderer, and a mercenary with no moral whatsoever."

He feigned to be hurt; his yellow-brown irises shimmered from dark to light. He smiled wide.

"You can talk, Mrs Smith. You're not the perfect wife you pretend to be in front of Suzy Brady!"

She gave him an infuriated look. How dared that freak judge her? How dare he judge her friends? Suzy was one of her dearest friend, maybe not the smartest but she had always been kind with Jane. She was not a mere fragment of TV commercials. She opened her mouth to protest, but he continued with a spark in his light brown orbs.

"I might even add your husband and you had quite a reputation nowadays. Taking on an entire building of agents… I don't recall any of you had restraints when it comes of a job well done."

Her eyes snapped at his acknowledgement of her marital status. She should ditch that British garbage on the street where it belongs. Why was she even taking the time with him? She should kill him, not talk things through. But still, Jane Smith remained poised behind her counter.

"We were never meant to be." Jane said again as she opened the oven to warm a plate of Lasagne from the caterer. She put hers hands on her hips as she leaned to program the cooking.

"I know…" He finally accredited.

"There is something wrong with you…" She walked through the kitchen at a rapid pace; taking out the brother of the gun she hides under her skirt. She opened one of the desks and exchanged the Sig Sauer for a much bigger calibre. With a sickening sound she pushed the cartridge in the chamber. She aimed his brow and he didn't flinched, didn't move or didn't avert his gaze. Oddly, she fiddled with the gun in her hands then put it down on the counter. She made a gesture with her left hand as if she was willing to listen to him before they began to play at who will kill Bunny first!

"What do you want from me, Sayid? Why are you here?"

"So a man doesn't have a right to visit his friends, especially the dearest of them."

He said as he rose from his stool. She tensed, an odd feeling rising in the pit of her stomach. It was a sensation of déjà vu. He went to the sink and filled a glass of water, sitting back shortly after he drank its content.

"Sayid, we're not friends!"

"Yes, we're so much more."

"In your dreams only."

"Humph, Jane, you're hurting me!" His hands clutched his chest in mock-offend.

She looked down at his hands and noticed the bruises there. There were also multiple contusions on his chest and neck like he had done an unpleasant encounter with a wall… or a truck.

"What happened to you?" She frowned.

"You should know." He said smiling enigmatically. Something he learned with time, Jane Smith was a master liar. She could even fake death if she wanted. She was an Oscar winner in the best actress category. Lying was just like breathing for her. It was instinctive. Innate…He bet her first words in this life were lies.

She picked up again the gun and disarmed the security. That was rule number one of warning between them.

"Now I know there is definitely something wrong with you! Where is it?" She aimed again at him but he just raised his charcoal eyebrows and the same smile splattered on his face like the cat that ate the mice.

"What, love?" He said, stealing a pear in the plate and munching in it with appetite.

"Tell me where it is!"

Sayid raised his eyebrows as if not understanding.

"I almost forget! Teheran. 1994. You crazy prick!"

She backhanded him with the butt of the Sig Sauer, drawing blood on his now open lips. He didn't move, merely shifted his position on the stool.

"You son of a bitch! Tell me where it is now!"

"TSsk… Tssk…No need to be aggressive Jenny! By the way, I love the Kandinsky in your living room."

"You…" She said before she ran from the kitchen in the living room. Sitting openly on her coffee table, there was a gift wrapped in red satiny paper with reddish ribbons assorted. She opened it frantically.

"Just a little nothing for my favourite girl… But if I were you I will be much more careful… You know what they say about impatient little girls on the eve of Christmas." While he sat on the white couch brazenly calm, she opened the box to reveal a complex system of explosives.

"You just…You take a bomb in my living room! In my fucking living room! But what's wrong with you? What's gotten into you? You want to die! Disarm it now. You didn't know how much it cost me to rebuild this house."

"Rebuild?"

"Long story!"

"I have all the time you know."

"It left us twenty minutes! Give me the code Sayid!"

"Okay it's 949….49 111 F-U-C-K Y-O-U B-I-T-C-H… You should know me better, Jenny! Come beside me, we need to catch up on old time." She was about to give him the best tongue lashing he ever had but abstained herself. "Come on Jenny! You don't want to make me mad, do you?"

"Don't call me that!" She said sitting down on the sofa. "Tell me one thing!"

"Yes to all the questions you're asking yourself! It's a real one. Made with the basics plastics and nitro, it was a quickie. Made in barely one hour while I was waiting for you! Ah yeah, It's a fake time switch. You know I disliked this kind of trigger. Absolutely not reliable…Too much of unmanageable factors, I had to take in consideration. You know I'm kinda lazy, without mentioning I was short of time. Now the game is much more easier like this. I died or… the blood pumping in my veins just accelerated or slowed so much that it sent the wrong messages to the trigger, and then we're fucked. We're screwed and we're dust. "

"You bastard…" she began through gritted teeth, and then her shoulders slumped down, resigned. She was trying hard to avoid resorting to her violent ways. She didn't want to stress that wanker further. She had worked so hard for this new tapestry. Oh and this sofa… There weren't two like this! And the Kandiskys in the living room, those had not been yet authenticated.

"You… Why?"

"Don't try it with me Jane!"

Sayid said, exasperation dripping in his voice. The bomb reacted immediately by ringing a first time, startling Jane who stiffened against her seat. He grinned and sighed.

"I've linked myself to that pretty bomb because I knew you, sunshine. You would never hesitate to kill me if it suits your purpose. But, now you kill me and we're both dead. Isn't that a pretty way to go out?"

"Giving me that kamikaze bullshit, isn't that a little cliché? You're not suicidal, Sayid."

"That's true but I needed to talk to you because I owe you that. Or I owed it to our friendship."

"Friends don't do that to each other."

"We always were so singular."

"John will arrive soon."

"So he can join our party? I don't mind you know…"

"Ok… I' m sorry whatever I did to you in the past. I lied a lot while we were together but you can't possibly still hold a grudge against me after all these years. I moved on, you should have moved on too. I just… Sayid it was great between us but it's over now… and I really hope you will go back to wherever you were, hopefully after you give me the code to disarm that fucking bomb before she blast my living room with me inside inadvertently!

"You absolutely suck in mediation, love! Now answer my question. Who are you working for?"

"I'm between jobs actually!" She said smiling as she tried amiability.

A large slap resounded on her cheeks so hard that her head jerked away. She backed away and leapt from the sofa just in time to avoid a kick in her face.

"Whatwas that for, idiot?" She growled as she kicked him squarely on his face. He snorted when blood smeared from his nose to his chin, some drop spilling on Jane's precious sofa.

"Spicing things up, sunshine? I'm feeling lucky and deliciously Zen."

TBC

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**A.N: **Okay, I will probably not be able to update soon, because I'm moving from my apartment Saturday and I don't know when I will be able to update from my new flat. So I advise you to use the story alert below to be informed of any changes. I will try to write some more before the fateful date but I really can't do promises guys. Please review, I really want to know how you find that one. Great, not so great, disappointing? Tell me!


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